Feral Scream
by The Halfa Wannabe
Summary: The year is 2015. The Titans remain the protectors of Jump City. Now a new enemy has risen. His hatred is absolute, but if he hates them so much, why did he help them?
1. Chapter 1

Titans, they're nothing. Those who left me to die ten years ago. You're useless, incompetent, self righteous fools. Your time is over. Now is the time of Feral."

The man in the heavy black cloak stooped on the mountain. He stared out over the shining city. Ten years had done little to change it. It sparkled in the night like a polished diamond.

"The end is near. You will find it in me." He jumped into the air and let himself drop to a small ledge beneath him. Another leap and another ledge. He made his way down the mountain faster than any human could've done. His feet struck the last ledge with enough force to smash it. Cracks made their way across the small ledge. It broke from the mountain and slid down slope. Feral rode it to the bottom of the mountain. He made his way through the trees that had grown up to the base of the jagged peak. He started to run through the forest and across the barren stretch of land that rested just to the west of Jump City.

He stayed to the left of the canyon that ran almost the entire length of Jump City's badlands. He quickly passed the barren world and jumped into the air. He landed on the road that would take him straight to the magnificent city.

His keen ears twitched as he heard the cries of help from the city.

"Showtime."

The massive stone monster whipped his arm around and smashed it through the wall of the bank. Five figures emerged from the night. "Hold it right there Cinderblock! It's a little late to make a withdrawal. Titans GO!"

Two of the figures jumped forward and slammed twin punches into the concrete behemoth.

His arm slammed them into the ground.

Two metal boots proceeded to smash into his face. The figure then flipped off the stone creature. He landed and threw a blue bird-shaped object in Cinderblock's direction. A green bolt of energy collided with it, making it explode in the monster's face.

A large pole was sent flying. You could just see the outline within the black encasement.

Cinderblock grabbed the pole and slammed it down on the two figures laying at his feet. One arm shot up and glowed yellow as it blocked the hit. The concrete creature bent down and picked up the two figures. He threw them in the general direction of the others. They were easily caught by their friends."

Cinderblock bent down and ripped a large section from the street. He threw it at the Titans and watched them scramble to avoid the slab. A man landed on the still moving street and ran at Cinderblock. The section of street landed as the cloaked man jumped at Cinderblock. He went right by the creature's head.Û½He flipped over and snagged onto the head on his way down. The massive monster lost his balance and crashed into what was left of the street. A metal clad fist slammed into it's face ending the battle.

The Titans gathered in the middle of the street and watched the man slowly rise to his feet.

Nightwing moved over to him. "Thanks, he knows us a bit too well."

"Then you should know him just as well."

"Yeah, we need to train some more. The name's Nightwing. Pleased to meet you. We're always looking for new members." He stuck his hand out and prepared to shake the newcomer's hand.

Instead his arm was twisted behind him and he was thrown over to Starfire.

"That won't be necessary. The Titans are no longer needed. I'd suggest retiring if I were you."

The Tamaranian floated over to him. "We protect this city, and shall continue to do so."

He removed his hood and glared at her. His silver mask sported two green eyepieces that were slanted upward toward the outer edges of his silver featureless mask. "You are five heroes barely able to beat one of the least intelligent criminals in the city." He turned toward the youngest of the Titans. "You're Armstrong I believe. Joined the Titans four years ago at the age of nineteen, You imbue your arms with a massive amount of energy when you fight. You should forget about them. The Titans can't be trusted."

"Yo man, you show up out of nowhere and you say we're not to be trusted. We don't even know who you are. If you're such a big man why don't you tell us who you are."

"My name is Feral, and I have nothing to provto the likes of you." He turned back to Armstrong. "Your friends don't care about anything but their own glory. You'd do better if you were on your own. The only person you can trust, is yourself. I learned that the hard way." Feral started to walk away from them.

"Hey!"

Feral swung around and caught the small device in his hand.

"Call us when you get into trouble. Trust us, you will."

The communicator was thrown back at a speed that would make a major league pitcher jealous. "I'd never call on you." He slowly reached up and removed the mask from his face.

"God..."

"No..."

"It's..."

He turned to allow Armstrong a perfect view of his face. "You're someone they can always count on. But it won't matter. When you're in trouble, don't expect them to help. They let me be tortured, let my eye be ripped from my head while I was still awake. Beaten, cut, starved, burned, and they never came. Leave before it happens to you." He placed the mask over his scarred face.

He turned his back on the heroes who stood in the middle of the street. Only one figure moved.

Raven rushed toward him. "Beastboy, don't g..." He twirled around and backhanded her to the side of the street. He turned and continued walking away.

"I told you back then, Beastboy is dead." His ears twitched as he heard a familiar hum. "Go ahead and prove me right. Come on, shoot me in the back. Show the new guy exactly what kind he's fallen in with."

"Let it go Cyborg. It won't help anything. We've got to earn his trust back."

"Raven, all you did was try to talk to him. We can't let him get away with that."

"Is there anyone who has more right to hate us? We'll just have to wait."

Cyborg's sonic cannon powered down.

"Don't feel like showing your true colors to the new guy? Well, he'll figure it out in time. It's not like you can hide who you are."

Feral walked into the darkness. 


	2. Chapter 2

He sat in front of the statue in the middle of the largest cavern in Jump City. Ten years ago it had been a memorial to Terra.

Now it was just the place for teens to make out. The walls of the cavern were covered with graffiti. But the statue in the center remained untouched.

"You betrayed me and you saved me. They left me to be tortured and degraded. To have everything taken from me. They let it happen. They let me be taken and never came for me. Would you have let it happen? I doubt it. You got me out of the way of Slade's attack. Too bad he didn't finish it then, it would've saved me a lot of pain."

"Do you really mean that?" The soft voice echoed through the chamber.

His lips formed the name and gave life to it with his voice. "Raven. I thought I made it clear, I have nothing to say to you people. This is my home and I expect you to stay away."

"We're not your enemies."

"Wrong, the people who left me to be tortured are very much my enemies. Now leave."

"We didn't leave you. We looked for you everywhere. Every lead we had, turned out to be a lie. There was nothing we could do."

"It doesn't matter. You don't know anything about what they did. Your mind would tear itself apart if you knew half. Trust me on that, It's happened."

"We tried to find you Beastboy, we really tried."

"Stop that." The icy tones his voice took were enough to send a chill down her spine. "Beastboy was a fool, I'm a lot wiser than he ever was. He died during that ordeal. He's gone, now and forever. He was useless. He was always the weakest of the Titans. Always right there getting into trouble. But no matter what, he was there for you. And none of you were there when he needed it."

"We let you go because we thought you'd deal with it. We were wrong. We should have went after you. We should have tried to help."

"Thank whatever god you pray to, that you didn't. I was ready to kill all of you. Now get out of my home."

"But..."

"This is your last chance. You don't realize this but you're trespassing. I bought this land and I have the right to protect it from all intruders. Leave now."

"You know where to find us if you want to talk. We're always ready."

Feral remained sitting as she cloaked her body in shadows. Her form swiftly reappeared within her room. She dropped without word onto her bed. "What happened to you? What did they do to you?"

A knock startled her out of her reverie.

"Go away."

A voice from the other side of the door actually answered back. "Raven, I really need to talk to you. It's important."

Raven slowly lifted herself and moved toward the door. She slid it gently open. "What do you want?"

"Answers. The others won't talk to me. You have no files on what happened and he seems to have singled me out."

"Because you weren't part of the Titans back then." Raven gestured toward a chair sitting against the wall. It flew over and landed near her bed. "Take a seat."

Both moved over to her bed.

Armstrong sat down on the chair and Raven sat on the edge of her bed. "What do you want to know?"

"What happened? I was a kid when Beastboy quit the team. I didn't really pay any attention to it. But he said you left him to be tortured."

"I, understand why they didn't want to tell you. It's hard. It's not something we want to remember."

"I lost my best friend that day. He was the only other person who knew what it was like to have a monster inside. It was something we both understood."

"Ten years ago we were fighting Plasmus, and we were losing. He just kept coming. Nothing we did worked, and I mean nothing. He just kept getting back up for another round. We were fighting him for hours. Beastboy finally turned into a creature he'd only seen once on Tamaran. He was able to keep him distracted while I prepared to finish him off. I sent a bunch of my energy into him and caused it to explode. Right before that Beastboy was knocked out."

"What happened then?"

"We were exhausted and fell asleep right there in the street. The cops woke us after they had Plasmus secure. Beastboy was gone. We looked for a month but we couldn't find anything. Then one night, an alarm sounded telling us there was an intruder on the island. We went to check it out. It was him. He was really tore up. His clothes were like rags and everywhere you looked you could see he'd been hurt. We got him to the infirmary. We didn't even know if he would survive."

Raven continued talking as her mind went back to that night. 


	3. Chapter 3

"No, stop. Please. Stop. Let me go. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Beastboy fell silent after the scream.

His four friends gathered around the small bed they had placed him in. Starfire looked particularly stricken. "What has happened to friend Beastboy?"

Cyborg looked over the results of Beastboy's scans. "Someone tortured him, mercilessly. Let wounds start to heal and then ripped them open again. I haven't seen anything like this. IT'S OUR FAULT! We should have been doing more."

Robin looked over at him. "We did everything we could. It just wasn't enough. We have to find out who did this. We have to make sure that they know what happens when you pull this crap. Cyborg, any clues?"

"Nothing. Burns, cuts, bruises. but nothing that can help us."

Beastboy started to whimper. "Why? Who are you? What do you want? Stooooaaaaaaaaaaahh. The pain, the pain. NOOOOOOOO! I'LL KILL YOU! I'll kill you. I'll ki..." Beastboy broke out into sobs.

A blue aura started to surround him. Bruises vanished and cuts started to heal. The skin knitted itself back together. Raven collapsed under the mental pressure she'd put herself under. "That's, the best I can do. The rest will have to heal naturally, but his eye, His left eye is gone."

The three other teens turned to stare at the scars that covered the left side of his face. Robin looked over to Cyborg. "Can you help him with that?"

Cyborg shook his head sadly. "I know what you're thinking, and no, it would be ripped apart whenever he changed, and that could kill him. Too many nerve connections to risk it."

"No, no, don't hurt me. don't hurt me. YOU BASTARDS! WHEN MY FRIENDS GET HERE THEY'LL RIP YOU APART! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS! hurts, so cold, please. help can't, can't, please stop."

Four sets of eyes dropped in shame. Robin's voice could barely be heard. "We need to sleep, but someone should stay with him."

"I'll do it. If he wakes up, I'll let you know." Raven stared down at her friend.

"Are you sure? You and Beastboy aren't exactly..."

"I'm sure. If he won't calm down, I can just put him back to sleep. Go on. It'll be fine."

Three Titans left the room, each one glancing back to see their friend laying on the small bed. They turned away from the scarred body of Beastboy.

Tears came to Starfire's eyes. "I am sorry friend, I have failed you."

"We all messed up Star. We just have to do our best to help him, deal with this."

"A month of being tortured, I'm not sure that we'll be able to do anything. We just have to hope that he can make it through this." Cyborg glanced back at the door that had shut behind them. "Even if he can make it past this, he'll never be the same. How could he be."

Raven closed her eyes and sent her consciousness to her injured friend. No barrier held her from his mind. His mind was nothing but darkness. Raven would have attributed it to his sleeping if it wasn't for the feeling that crawled up her spine.

A light shone through the darkness.

Raven slowly followed the bright shine. A small golden ball floated among several. Red, gray, and a bright green ball floated alongside it. Others littered the floor.

Raven tentatively reached to the red ball. Her mind blanked as rage and an ancient monster seemed to scream into her mind.

"The beast, his anger. separated. How?" Raven looked at the small red ball. She glanced over to the gray ball. She reached over and touched it. Pain flashed through her, nothing but a sample of the last month.

Raven pulled back and stumbled over her own feet. She landed heavily on the floor. Her hand brushed one of the balls that rested against the ground.

She was flying through the darkness of a ventilation shaft. She slipped through the grate and returned to human as she headed toward the door. Her hand reached out and unlocked it. The door was shoved roughly inward. "You take too long kid. Start doing better or you know what'll happen. Raven pressed herself against the wall in fear.

Raven's mind was roughly ejected from what she realized was one of Beastboy's memories. She was careful not to touch another as she got to her feet. She reached toward the floating green ball that was most likely the Beastboy she knew. It turned black at her touch.

"Leave. You don't belong here."

"Beastboy? You're safe now. You're not going to be hurt."

"Safe? I'll never be safe. I was safe once, my friends let me be taken, they didn't come for me. I'm never safe."

Raven started to panic. "We looked for you! We've spent the last month following every lead and rumor. We couldn't find you!"

"I'm never safe, never, the Titans let me be captured. They let them torture me. None of you care. Get out."

"It's not true. We tried everything, we couldn't find anything, nothing we heard was true. We tried, we really did."

"Not hard enough, get out."

Raven's skin began to crawl. She'd never heard the shape-shifter speak like this. "but..."

"Get out, now."

Raven continued protesting against the voice. Three balls started to glow. The golden one started to shrink. It stopped floating and dropped among the orbs on the floor. The glow from the other three started to merge."

"Beastboy, please..."

The light grew brighter.

"Beastboy was your friend. Beastboy is dead."

The light pulsed and shot toward her. Raven's consciousness was forced from his mind. She returned to her body and fell from her chair. "No, no, we tried. Don't hate us. We tried." A tear escaped from Raven's eye.

She heard the door slide open. "Friend Raven? Is something wrong?"

"I-I-I entered his mind, he blames us. He hates us."

"But friend Beastboy is not like that."

"He said that Beastboy was our friend, and that Beastboy was dead."

"What? But he is right there."

"He didn't mean he was dying, he meant he's not our friend anymore."

"Move." Raven and Starfire turned around.

"Friend Beastboy, you're awake. But you should rest. You are not well."

Starfire went to guide him back to the small bed against the wall. He smacked her hand away. "Get out of my way Starfire."

In shock she moved to the side. Her one time friend shuffled through the door.

The two girls watched in silence as the young man started down the hall.

He made it to the elevator and rode down to the entrance hall of the tower.

Four teens stood in his way.

"Don't go Beastboy. We can help you. You're our friend."

"Move out of the way Robin. I don't follow your orders anymore."

Robin looked sad while Cyborg stared at his best friend. "BB, man, we can help. Just give us a chance."

"You can't help anyone, none of you. Where were you when I needed you. Now move."

Cyborg continued looking at him before moving out of the way.

Beastboy, continued slowly toward the door that would let him exit from the tower. A yellow disk went sliding between his legs and stopped a few feet in front of him. "Take it, call us if you need anything." Their leader's voice was anything but steady.

"I won't." Beastboy's foot came down and smashed the small plastic device.

The door slid open, and the young man walked into the darkness. 


	4. Chapter 4

"We hadn't heard anything about him since that night. He disappeared and never looked back. He feels that we betrayed him, that we can't be trusted. That's why he told you to leave. He wouldn't wish what happened on his worst enemies. Which right now happens to be the Titans."

"But how can he even think you'd betrayed him like that. You were his friends. He should know you'd never do something like that."

"Yeah, he should. But he was tortured for a month. He wasn't thinking straight, and now it's become part of who he is. There's nothing we can do about it now. Beastboy's gone, and we ended up with Feral."

"I, see. If he really feels that way, there's no telling what he might do. He might even try to kill you guys."

"No. I went to talk to him. He hates us, but he's not going to kill us. If he was, he would have killed me right then. I was completely at his mercy, and he just told me to go. He might not be who he was, but he's still good. He can't just sit back and watch somebody die. Even if he hates them."

"But there has to be something we can do! I might not know him, but he was a Titan. You just don't walk away from that."

"He's had ten years of letting his feelings fester, of feeding on that hatred. He was still in really bad shape when he left, it might be the only reason he's still alive. I don't think there's anything we can do."

"That's giving up! We can't do that. He was a Titan then, and if there's anything I can do about it, he'll be one again."

Raven looked sadly over at him. "I wish it could be done, but he's not the same person. Beastboy cared for everyone around him. Feral doesn't. He might look like him, but he's not Beastboy."

"Nobody changes that completely! There's got to be something left of him. He's got to be in there somewhere."

A mirror that hung on Raven's wall shattered. "YOU WEREN'T THERE! I was in his head. I was there. I refused to accept it, but it's true. That man isn't Beastboy!" Raven started to calm down. "You've heard what happened. It's time for you to leave."

Armstrong made his way to the door. "Think about it, there's got to be something that could bring him back."

Raven watched the door close behind him. She went to her dresser and opened up the top drawer. She stared down at the only object inside. An ordinary penny, that she had looked for after Trigon's defeat. The same penny that he'd given her on the day the world was supposed to end.

Raven's eyes brimmed with tears. "I wish there was."

An alarm blared throughout the tower. All the Titans reported immediately to the main room. Nightwing stared at the computer. "Control Freak is attacking a video store. Let's go."

A T-car that looked nothing like it had ten years earlier, raced into the city. The car skidded right into a parking space. Three Titans jumped out while the other two dropped from the sky. The door burst inward as the five heroes prepared to stop the slovenly villian.

Shock came as they saw the black cloaked mass standing over the huddled figure. "You won't be doing this again, now will you?"

"No, please don't hurt me."

"I once said the same thing, they continued, but I'm not them."

Though he never turned, the Titans realized that his attention had turned toward them. "Do you know why I wear this mask? It's because people run when they see my face. Armstrong, have you thought about what I said? Will you leave the Titans?"

"No, they're my friends, and they're your friends too. Just give them a chance!"

A bone chilling laugh erupted from him. "Your friends. How cute. I wish I still had the option of being that naive. For your sake, I hope this naivete can continue. The ending of it was quite unpleasant for me."

"Friend, I want you to come back. Silkie has missed you much since you have been gone."

"It's a worm Starfire. That's all it ever was. Raven, do you remember what happened the last time Control Freak attacked this place?"

It was only here that the four Titans realized that this was the same video store from more than ten years before. "I do. We spent that night chasing after the manifestation of my powers gone out of control."

"We were terrified. I was scared for my life that night. Terror has a much more personal meaning once you've been tortured. There's very little that will scare you after that. If you're still sane that is."

Feral leaned over and pinched Control Freak's nose. "Be a good boy now. Because if I see you causing trouble in my city again. Things won't be so pleasant for you."

Feral walked across the room and jumped through an already smashed window. Raven followed after him. "Please wait."

"I thought I'd made myself clear, I have nothing to do with you."

"I know, I, just want you to have this."

Feral turned around. He looked down at the small penny in her hand. "A penny, what's so impor..." Feral trailed off as he remembered. "For luck."

Raven looked at him with hope in her eyes.

"Keep it. You'll need it." He turned around and ran into the night.

Raven's hand dropped and the penny did the same.

It slowly rolled into the gutter. 


	5. Chapter 5

Four teens sat miserably on the couch. The large television in front of them continued to show the home movies from more than a decade before. Days in the park, Beastboy standing in triumph as he watched Cyborg's car veer off the track and explode. One of the many holidays they'd celebrated as family. And then, near the end of the tape was their celebration of Blorthog. Starfire's eyes welled with tears that only the loss of a true friend can bring. "Why friend? Why did it have to happen? Why can we not do the kicking of the butt like we used to?"

Nightwing and Cyborg leaned over and comforted the Tamaranian.

Nightwing whispered softly to her. "There's nothing we could have done. Everything was out of our control the moment Beastboy was taken. We just have to remember the good times. Back when he was our friend,"

A scream of frustration sounded behind them. "You're all making me sick! We haven't even done anything and you're all giving up. He's a Titan. We have to do something!"

Nightwing stood up. "He hates us. There's nothing we can do. Not now."

"We don't give up on our teammates. You guys taught me that. We never give up on them."

Cyborg turned to look at him. "Do you want to know who taught us that? Beastboy did. Even after we were betrayed by one of our own, Beastboy convinced us that we had to try and get her back. That we had to help her. We didn't give up on Beastboy. He gave up on us."

Armstrong shook his head. "He's right, you really are pathetic. I'm gonna go catch a movie. I can't deal with you right now." The gold design that was built into the black rubber of his suit shifted as he walked. He stopped to grab a heavy trench coat and a pair of sunglasses to keep his identity as a Titan from the public. He walked through the tower and stared out at the bay once he'd walked through the entrance hall.

He started charging energy into his arm and punched the ground. He went rocketing into the sky and used another punch to land safely on the shore of Jump City.

"Interesting way to travel. You could get hurt doing that. You should be careful."

"What's it matter to you? I thought you hated the Titans."

"You aren't like them. I've been watching you. You aren't like those losers I once called my friends."

"The Titans aren't losers and they're not friends. They're family. A family you abandoned!"

The next thing he knew he was being slammed to the ground. The hand around his throat tightened. The silver mask reflected the sun into his face. "I was left to be tortured. They abandoned me when they were my only hope. What kind of family is that? Keep this in mind, you see a lot more clearly when you've had an eye ripped from your head while you were still awake. When you've had every good memory warped and twisted till you don't even know who you are anymore. It took three years before I found even the slightest bit of peace. You don't have any right to judge me." The hand released him and was drawn back into the confines of the cloak. "I tried to warn you. You chose to trust them. I hope you can live with the consequences of your choice. They were always there, and we always helped each other. At least until I went through something. When I turned into the beast, they were going to throw me in jail. No benefit of the doubt. That was a long time before any of the rest of it. When they're in trouble, you help them out. Just wait until your turn comes. You'll see that they can never be your friends."

Feral started to walk away. He suddenly ducked as the glowing fist brushed past his head. His leg shot out and swept Armstrong from his feet. "I guess I was wrong. You are one of them." Feral's voice held such malice that Armstrong's body stopped moving. "Do you know what the original Titans were? They were the parents of the Greek gods. They were incredibly powerful, and they cared only for themselves. They were defeated by the very things they had created. Now these Titans will be destroyed by what they helped to create. Me."

"They still have your stuff."

"Stop trying, I've already told you. That person is dead."

"Screw your pride. Talk to them."

Feral spun around and ripped his mask off. "You think this is about pride, or even vengeance. It's not. I had to leave that behind. Anger is not something I can afford."

"They were your..."

"THEY WEREN'T! If they were, I wouldn't be like this. A monster, I have to hide my face every day. Anyone who sees it runs. I had nothing. But with this face, I've struck terror in even the most hardened criminals. The only way I can go out into the world is if I wear this mask. Do you know what it's like to have anyone who looks at you run away in terror, to have children scare each other with stories about you, for parents to drag their children across the street like you'll attack them? Of course you don't, and you want to know what makes it worse? It all happened, because I did the right thing. Because I used my powers to help people and that pissed off some psycho."

"Why do you blame everything on them? They weren't at fault, for what happened. They were your friends, and they looked everywhere for you. They failed, and you got hurt because of that. You think that they don't care, but they do. They're sitting up there watching home movies. Remembering the good times. Why can't you forgive them. They failed, but that doesn't mean they don't care."

"It only took hours for us to find Robin when he went missing. No clues, no leads. And he's the detective. The only way they couldn't find me is if they weren't looking. I wasn't even a mile away from the tower. You can see the place where I was held from the LIVING ROOM!"

Feral walked away while Armstrong glared at him. 


	6. Chapter 6

Raven sat on the roof gazing out at the setting sun. Almost immediately after Armstrong's outburst she'd went to the roof. Her brief respite was quickly torn away from her as she saw Armstrong head to the shore. She saw him pause and start gesturing as though he was talking to someone. He seemed to be yelling right before the man in the black cloak stepped out of the shadows and slammed him to the ground.

"Feral." Raven floated from her spot and flew toward the couple. She watched as Armstrong and Feral got back up and then as Armstrong attacked. He was summarily defeated. Feral was speaking to him again. She was just close enough to hear him shout the words, living room.

She floated in the air as he started to walk away. In the end, she couldn't help herself.

Feral felt a pair of arms encircle his body. He turned around and looked at the person who remained latched onto him. "Please don't go, you left back then, I don't want to lose you again." Raven felt his arm shift. Her grip was broken as she was easily flung to the side.

The chill that came from his voice was greater than anything Raven had ever managed. "Never touch me. If any Titan touches me, I will rip them limb from limb."

"She cares for you, idiot. Why can't you see that?" Armstrong slammed his fist into the ground that Feral had jumped from the moment before. He looked up to see the black cloak part on the way down. The outfit underneath seemed evil in and of itself, most of it was black, but a red belt held the fabric to him. More red climbed up his sides and three red slashes cut from Feral's right shoulder all the way down his left leg. The part that made the most ominous statement was the design the claw like marks cut across.

The emblem of the Titans colored in gray.

Armstrong focused energy into his arm and held it up to block the heavy boot that was heading straight for him. He landed on the young man's arm and fell backwards. His left foot came up and slammed into Armstrong's face on the way down.

Meanwhile, his right leg took his weight and he somersaulted away from the other fighter. He stood calmly waiting for the younger man to recover. "The Titans were always good at manipulating emotions. I will not fall for that again." His head jerked toward the crying girl on the ground. For just a second he seemed to hesitate.

This gave Armstrong an idea. "That's right, look at her! Look what you've done to her. Look what you've done to your friends."

This, as it turned out, was exactly the wrong thing to say.

Feral attacked with incredible ferocity. His right leg swung straight into Armstrong's ribs. Feral smiled as he heard the satisfying crack of breaking bones.

Armstrong backed up, he refused to go down from the hit. He felt too enraged to let the man who stood before him win the battle. He ignored the pain as he rushed forward and went for a massive upper cut.

Feral merely bent backwards and kicked upward into the joint that connected the arm to the torso. The arm was wrenched from it's socket and fell back down into limp sumission. The pain shot through the joint causing Armstrong to drop to one knee.

Feral walked over and kicked it out from beneath him.

Armstrong fell and landed on the arm that had been injured just seconds previously.

Feral started to walk away.

"What, aren't you going to bring your A game? Afraid I can't handle a gorilla? Or do you think you're being some tough guy by not fighting at full strength?"

Feral turned to him. "Don't speak of things you don't understand. I can't change, I haven't been able to for the last ten years, but I don't need to. I'm stronger than I ever was back then. And it's all thanks to Wilson. He taught me everything he knew. He is the only person that I could trust."

"I thought you couldn't trust anyone. What about that?" Armstrong watched the one time changeling through his slitted eyes.

"I said he was the one person I could trust. He's dead now. A month ago he fell off a cliff while he was training. So I left, Now I'm back to make sure the Titans can never hurt anyone else."

"What are you insane? The Titans don't hurt people, we help them. It's what the Titans have always done."

"Yeah, well that's my job now."

He turned to stare at Raven. "It's hard to believe that I used to think of you as strong. I see the truth now. You're weak. You were weak when you gave Trigon a path into our world, and you're still weak now." He stepped toward her. "You said you didn't want to lose me again." His voice once again took on icy tones. His voice came out as barely a whisper. "What makes you think you ever had me." He reached up and removed his mask.

Then for the first time. He opened his left eye. 


	7. Chapter 7

His left eye opened slowly. What Raven saw was far worse than anything she could have thought up. A shadow black jewel was sitting in the vacant place left by his eye. "A gift from Wilson. See what you fear. Look at the horrors in your own soul. Stare at the cursed gem, and the evil that lies within." Feral's voice was deep and guttural as he said this.

Raven couldn't turn away from the blackest of rocks. She felt herself tumble into it's power.

The guttural voice spoke to her again. "Now let's see what you fear."

Raven watched as the first of many horrible visions appeared.

Starfire lay in the middle of the street. Her left arm lay at an impossible angle. Her legs were bent under her limp body. A gash on her forehead sent crimson trails of blood down her face obscuring the look of terror that resided on it. Raven backed up in horror. "Starfire, what happened to you? Who did this?" The image disappeared into the darkness.

The blackness of the world started to close around her. Raven nearly lost the contents of her stomach at what she saw next.

Cyborg was leaning against a building. Cracks and open spaces appeared all over his armor plated body. A mixture of blood and various other fluids ran from the fissures in his massive hide. One arm was mostly gone. It ended in a mass of dangling shards of metal. Sparks erupted from several exposed circuits. One landed just right to set the liquids pooling around him on fire. As the flames consumed his body, Raven was unable to avoid looking at his face. His arm was shoved through the front of his head, and wires trailed from where it had exited the back of his skull.

Raven closed her eyes as tight as she could. She didn't want to see any more.

It didn't help.

The images came anyway. Armstrong lay bleeding from the stumps where his arms had been. The two severed limbs lay crossed across his chest in a sick mockery of resting in peace. Raven turned her gaze to his face. The hatred in his face was clear. So was the fact that he was still breathing. A slithering black tendril made it's way into the picture. It shot forward and ripped into the middle of his chest. It pulled back out holding a bloody muscle.

Raven's eyes opened in horror. "No, please stop it."

Yet another vision joined the incessant parade of death. Robin stood among the carnage, the Robin of ten years ago. His uniform was in tatters. His left arm hung broken at his side. His pain was obvious, as were his bruises and cuts. "How could you do this? I'm going to make you pay. I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" He rushed at something hidden in the shadows. A thin black substance shot forward and wrapped around his neck. You could hear him choking for breath. The tendril yanked back abruptly.

Within seconds Robin's head was facing in the wrong direction.

Raven slid into the picture. She was twice as tall as she normally was. Black tentacles trailed from underneath her robes and four red eyes glowed as the darkness took the vision.

The true Raven dropped to her knees. "No, no, it's not real. It's not."

"So, you fear that you're as bad as your father. That even though you've had control for the last ten years, that you'll destroy those fools. Pathetic."

"Shut up, what do you know? I have a monster, a demon inside that wants to kill my friends. Do you know how that feels?"

"Feh, Trigon's no longer around to feed it, no longer around to make you lose control of your own power. You're just scared of what you can do. You won't let you're full power show. Because you are weak. But you already know this. You faced this fear. So let's see what else is in here."

Raven tried to block him. She tried to prevent him from entering further into her mind, but it was to no avail. He slipped in anyway.

She found herself being drawn into the vision this time.

Her arms clasped around the figure. She pulled him closer to her. Their lips met in a passionate kiss. He pulled back so that he was in complete view. The gentle caring eyes of Beastboy stared back into hers.

"I love you Raven. I have for a long time. I just wish I'd realized it sooner." He stared at her for a moment before starting to cough. He dropped onto his knees with a look of pain contorting his face into an almost demonic look. He gave a sudden lurch and Raven watched blood start pouring from his mouth. He turned his face to her. The look on it was heartbreaking. "Goodbye."

With one last shudder he died.

"No, NO!. Beastboy, come on, wake up. Don't leave, not now. Don't leave me." Raven burst into tears as she scooted closer to him. She fell to her knees and pulled him to her. "I love you. I'm sorry, I'm sorry about how I treated you. I'm so sorry Beastboy. Please forgive me." She threw her head back. "NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The vision shattered around her until she was leaning on her knees. She gazed up into the face of Feral. "AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS!"

The street beneath Feral began to rumble and lifted into the air. It flew high into the sky with him still on it. The piece of the street started to fall. He held onto it and jumped onto the street before it hit.

He turned to look at Raven. "How dare you. How dare you do that to me! I loved him. He was the one person who made me feel special. YOU AREN'T EVEN HALF THE MAN HE WAS!" Raven sent a spike of energy in his direction. He barely dodged it. The power cut through his cloak like a hot knife through butter.

The look in his eye was a look that hadn't graced his face since the worst month of his life. A look of caring that was quickly replaced by pure fury.

He surged forward and grabbed her arms in a death grip. "If you loved me so much. Why did you leave me to be tortured?"

"I couldn't find him. And the man I loved is dead. You aren't him. You said so yourself." She formed a shield between his hands and her wrists. They started to expand before growing too strong for him to hold on.

As he tumbled backwards a pure black blade formed around Raven's hand.

Feral looked at her for a minute before darting into a dark alley. 


End file.
